Prognostic value of serum levels of immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) in breast cancer: a preliminary study.

One hundred and sixty women admitted for breast tumour biopsy to the King's College Hospital group have been followed sequentially for 2 years. Sixty-nine women had early operable breast cancer and 91 had benign breast disease. All these women had serum immunoglobulin IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE levels measured preoperatively and postoperatively at 3 months, 1 year and 2 years. No differences were found in any of the serum immunoglobulin levels between the two groups at any time. There was, however, a positive correlation between the extent of metastatic breast cancer and the serum level of various immunoglobulins, particularly IgA. There was no evidence that routine postoperative radiotherapy influenced the levels of serum immunoglobulins. The findings suggest a secondary defence reaction against increasing tumour load, and do not support the theory of an early immune defect in immunoglobulin metabolism which could play a part in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. Although there is no diagnostic value in measuring the levels of serum immunoglobulins in patients with breast tumours, there may be some value in following the levels in cancer patients, as a guide to subclinical spread of the disease

Augmenting forearm crutches with wireless sensors for lower limb rehabilitation

Forearm crutches are frequently used in the rehabilitation of an injury to the lower limb. The recovery rate is improved if the patient correctly applies a certain fraction of their body weight (specified by a clinician) through the axis of the crutch, referred to as partial weight bearing (PWB). Incorrect weight bearing has been shown to result in an extended recovery period or even cause further damage to the limb. There is currently no minimally invasive tool for long-term monitoring of a patient's PWB in a home environment. This paper describes the research and development of an instrumented forearm crutch that has been developed to wirelessly and autonomously monitor a patient's weight bearing over the full period of their recovery, including its potential use in a home environment. A pair of standard forearm crutches are augmented with low-cost off-the-shelf wireless sensor nodes and electronic components to provide indicative measurements of the applied weight, crutch tilt and hand position on the grip. Data are wirelessly transmitted between crutches and to a remote computer (where they are processed and visualized in LabVIEW), and the patient receives biofeedback by means of an audible signal when they put too much or too little weight through the crutch. The initial results obtained highlight the capability of the instrumented crutch to support physiotherapists and patients in monitoring usage

Approaching ancient disease from a One Health perspective: Interdisciplinary review for the investigation of zoonotic brucellosis

Today, brucellosis is the most common global bacterial zoonosis, bringing with it a range of significant health and economic consequences, yet it is rarely identified from the archaeological record. Detection and understanding of past zoonoses could be improved by triangulating evidence and proxies generated through different approaches. The complex socio‐ecological systems that support zoonoses involve humans, animals, and pathogens interacting within specific environmental and cultural contexts, and as such there is a diversity of potential datasets that can be targeted. To capture this, in this paper we consider how to approach the study of zoonotic brucellosis in the past from a One Health perspective, one which explicitly acknowledges the health link between people, animals and environments (both physical and cultural). One Health research is explicitly interdisciplinary and conceptually moves away from an anthropocentric approach, allowing the component parts to be considered in holistic and integrated ways to deliver more comprehensive understanding. To this end, in this paper we review the methods, selected evidence and potential for past brucellosis identification and understanding, focussing on osteological markers in humans and animals, historical, biomolecular and epidemiological approaches. We also present an agenda and potential for future research

Tracing the star stream through M31 using planetary nebula kinematics

We present a possible orbit for the Southern Stream of stars in M31, which connects it to the Northern Spur. Support for this model comes from the dynamics of planetary nebulae (PNe) in the disc of M31: analysis of a new sample of 2611 PNe obtained using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph reveals ∼20 objects with kinematics inconsistent with the normal components of the galaxy, but which lie at the right positions and velocities to connect the two photometric features via this orbit. The satellite galaxy M32 is coincident with the stream both in position and velocity, adding weight to the hypothesis that the stream comprises its tidal debri

A deep kinematic survey of planetary nebulae in the Andromeda galaxy using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph

We present a catalogue of positions, magnitudes and velocities for 3300 emission-line objects found by the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph in a survey of the Andromeda galaxy, M31. Of these objects, 2615 are found likely to be planetary nebulae (PNe) associated with M31. The survey area covers the whole of M31's disc out to a radius of . Beyond this radius, observations have been made along the major and minor axes, and the Northern Spur and Southern Stream regions. The calibrated data have been checked for internal consistency and compared with other catalogues. With the exception of the very central, high surface brightness region of M31, this survey is complete to a magnitude limit of m5007∼ 23.75, 3.5 mag into the PN luminosity function. We have identified emission-line objects associated with M31's satellites and other background galaxies. We have examined the data from the region tentatively identified as a new satellite galaxy, Andromeda VIII, comparing it to data in the other quadrants of the galaxy. We find that the PNe in this region have velocities that appear to be consistent with membership of M31 itself. The luminosity function of the surveyed PNe is well matched to the usual smooth monotonic function. The only significant spatial variation in the luminosity function occurs in the vicinity of M31's molecular ring, where the luminosities of PNe on the near side of the galaxy are systematically ∼0.2 mag fainter than those on the far side. This difference can be explained naturally by a modest amount of obscuration by the ring. The absence of any difference in luminosity function between bulge and disc suggests that the sample of PNe is not strongly populated by objects whose progenitors are more massive stars. This conclusion is reinforced by the excellent agreement between the number counts of PNe and the R-band light. The number counts of kinematically selected PNe also allow us to probe the stellar distribution in M31 down to very faint limits. There is no indication of a cut-off in M31's disc out to beyond four scalelengths, and no signs of a spheroidal halo population in excess of the bulge out to 10 effective bulge radii. We have also carried out a preliminary analysis of the kinematics of the surveyed PNe. The mean streaming velocity of the M31 disc PNe is found to show a significant asymmetric drift out to large radii. Their velocity dispersion, although initially declining with radius, flattens out to a constant value in the outer parts of the galaxy. There are no indications that the disc velocity dispersion varies with PN luminosity, once again implying that the progenitors of PNe of all magnitudes form a relatively homogeneous old population. The dispersion profile and asymmetric drift results are shown to be mutually consistent, but require that the disc flares with radius if the shape of its velocity ellipsoid remains invarian

Tracing the star stream through M31 using planetary nebula kinematics

We present a possible orbit for the Southern Stream of stars in M31, which connects it to the Northern Spur. Support for this model comes from the dynamics of planetary nebulae (PNe) in the disk of M31: analysis of a new sample of 2611 PNe obtained using the Planetary Nebula Spectrograph reveals ~20 objects whose kinematics are inconsistent with the normal components of the galaxy, but which lie at the right positions and velocities to connect the two photometric features via this orbit. The satellite galaxy M32 is coincident with the stream both in position and velocity, adding weight to the hypothesis that the stream comprises its tidal debris.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, MNRAS Letters, accepted; for hi-res version see http://as1.chem.nottingham.ac.uk/~Aaron/m31stream.pdf (pdf) or http://as1.chem.nottingham.ac.uk/~Aaron/m31stream.ps.gz (ps

Planetary Nebula Velocities in the Disk and Bulge of M31

We present radial velocities for a sample of 723 planetary nebulae (PNe) in the disk and bulge of M31, measured using the WYFFOS fibre spectrograph on the William Herschel telescope. Velocities are determined using the [OIII] 5007 Angstrom emission line. Rotation and velocity dispersion are measured to a radius of 50 arcminutes (11.5 kpc), the first stellar rotation curve and velocity dispersion profile for M31 to such a radius. Our kinematics are consistent with rotational support at radii well beyond the bulge effective radius of 1.4kpc, although our data beyond a radius of 5kpc are limited. We present tentative evidence for kinematic substructure in the bulge of M31 to be studied fully in a later work. This paper is part of an ongoing project to constrain the total mass, mass distribution and velocity anisotropy of the disk, bulge and halo of M31.Comment: 27 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA

International variation in oesophageal and gastric cancer survival 2012–2014: differences by histological subtype and stage at diagnosis (an ICBP SURVMARK-2 population-based study)

Objective To provide the first international comparison of oesophageal and gastric cancer survival by stage at diagnosis and histological subtype across high-income countries with similar access to healthcare. Methods As part of the ICBP SURVMARK-2 project, data from 28 923 patients with oesophageal cancer and 25 946 patients with gastric cancer diagnosed during 2012–2014 from 14 cancer registries in seven countries (Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and the UK) were included. 1-year and 3-year age-standardised net survival were estimated by stage at diagnosis, histological subtype (oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC)) and country. Results Oesophageal cancer survival was highest in Ireland and lowest in Canada at 1 (50.3% vs 41.3%, respectively) and 3 years (27.0% vs 19.2%) postdiagnosis. Survival from gastric cancer was highest in Australia and lowest in the UK, for both 1-year (55.2% vs 44.8%, respectively) and 3-year survival (33.7% vs 22.3%). Most patients with oesophageal and gastric cancer had regional or distant disease, with proportions ranging between 56% and 90% across countries. Stage-specific analyses showed that variation between countries was greatest for localised disease, where survival ranged between 66.6% in Australia and 83.2% in the UK for oesophageal cancer and between 75.5% in Australia and 94.3% in New Zealand for gastric cancer at 1-year postdiagnosis. While survival for OAC was generally higher than that for OSCC, disparities across countries were similar for both histological subtypes. Conclusion Survival from oesophageal and gastric cancer varies across high-income countries including within stage groups, particularly for localised disease. Disparities can partly be explained by earlier diagnosis resulting in more favourable stage distributions, and distributions of histological subtypes of oesophageal cancer across countries. Yet, differences in treatment, and also in cancer registration practice and the use of different staging methods and systems, across countries may have impacted the comparisons. While primary prevention remains key, advancements in early detection research are promising and will likely allow for additional risk stratification and survival improvements in the future

Environmental Factors in the Relapse and Recurrence of Inflammatory Bowel Disease:A Review of the Literature

The causes of relapse in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are largely unknown. This paper reviews the epidemiological and clinical data on how medications (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, estrogens and antibiotics), lifestyle factors (smoking, psychological stress, diet and air pollution) may precipitate clinical relapses and recurrence. Potential biological mechanisms include: increasing thrombotic tendency, imbalances in prostaglandin synthesis, alterations in the composition of gut microbiota, and mucosal damage causing increased permeability